STORIES FROM THE WEB

Word has just come out that the September 5 issue of ESPN The Magazine will be running an article by writer Touré with the following title:

“What if Michael Vick were white?”

The subtitle of the story claims, “Since the day he was arrested, people have asked. The answer isn’t what you think.”

Well, the article doesn’t end up taking the path you might expect given it’s title. Touré isn’t really concerned with finding an answer to the hypothetical question, “would a white QB have served two years in jail for the same crime?” In fact, he dispatches that question in just a few lines: uh, yeah.

Instead, the author takes a different approach, discussing the ways in which Vick’s entire life and upbringing would have led him down a different path—with different resources, values, experiences, and world-views—if he were white instead of black. In other words, Touré (who is black himself) concludes that it is less likely Vick would have gotten himself into that particular mess (i.e., killing dogs) in the first place if he were white.

So, it turns out to have an interesting if not entirely original thesis. (It’s basic Sociology 101 type stuff.) But nothing sells a boatload of print magazines in the internet age better than n controversy, so ESPN The Magazine decided on an inflammatory headline, complete with an illustration (above) of what Vick would look like as a white man.